Brake mechanism support



April 29, 1969 w, HANLEY ET AL 3,441,109

BRAKE MECHAN I SM SUPPORT Original Filed Aug. 12, 1965 Sheet I of 4INVENT OR WILL/AM 6. HA/VLEY FRANK H. F ISHER ww fi y/MW ATTORNEYS April29, 1969 w. G. HANLEY ET AL 3,441,109

BRAKE MECHAN I SM SUPPORT Original Filed Aug. 12, 1965 Sheet 2 of 4WILLIAM G HANLEY FRA/VKH. FISHER my/ww /ww ATTORNEYS April 29, 1969 w.(3, HANLEY ET AL 3,441,109

BRAKE MECHANISM SUPPORT Original'Filed Aug. 12, 1965 INVENTOR 7 WILLIAMG. HANLE Y FRANK H. FISHER 0 BY ym/y/hfihw 9% ATTORNEYS April 29, 1969w, HANLEY ET A}. 3,441,109

BRAKE MECHANISM SUPPORT Original Filed Aug. 12,' 1965 Sheet 4 of 4INVENTOR WILL/AM G. HANLEY FRANK H. F/SHER BY Jwxwwww ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,441,109 BRAKE MECHANISM SUPPORT William G. Hanley andFrank H. Fisher, Kenton, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, toRockwell-Standard Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of DelawareOriginal application Aug. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 479,222, now Patent No.3,378,113. Divided and this application Aug. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 674,031

Int. Cl. F16d 51/00 US. Cl. 188-78 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 479,222, fixedAug. 12, 1965 for Brake Mechanism Support, now patent No. 3,378,113.

The present invention refers to brake mechanism supports and more inparticular to such for the mounting of brake shoe assemblies andactuator units in association on a vehicle axle member such as a tubulartrailer beam or a drive axle housing.

In brakes of the wedge actuated type such as disclosed in US. LetttersPatent No. 3,037,584, F. T. Cox et al., the brake shoes and the actuatorare supported on a central support plate or spider which may be madefrom a casting, forging or stamping formed with an integral actuatorhousing or housings, anchor bosses and guide abutments for the brakeshoes. These support plates or spiders are usually very heavy and, dueto their intricate shape which includes the actuator housings and brakeshoe mounting flanges, expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, thoseprior support plates or spiders have usually been bolted onto a flangeon the axle, a structure that might give rise to misalignment of thebrake mechanism due to the relative large uncontrolled manufacturingtolerances in the bolted assembly. It is an important feature of theinvention to ringweld a special brake support arrangement directly tothe axle to eliminate the disadvantages of such bolted assembly. Asupport plate or spider welded directly to the axle is more desirableeconomically by eliminating assembly costs and time consumed by thebolted assembly.

These prior one-piece support plates or spider structures do not readilylend themselves to be ringwelded to the axle in automatic weldingmachines due to their intricate structure which would interfere with theindexing and alignment means of the welder.

The present invention provides a novel composite brake support or spiderstructure adapted to overcome the foregoing disadvantages of priorstructures. In the disclosed embodiments of the invention the brakespider structure is a fabricated assembly consisting essentially of anelongated, apertured forged spider adapted to be welded directly to theaxle and having yoked ends provided with outwardly open recesses toreceive the respective brake actuator housings, together with separatebrake shoe support brackets attached to the spider intermediate theyoked ends to support and guide the brake shoes. This special structureis lighter in Weight, lends itself to be more 3,441,109 Patented Apr.29, 1969 easily welded onto the axle, and the parts are better alignedin the assembly.

The major object of the present invention is therefore to provide anovel brake mechanism support assembly comprising an axle mounted spiderhaving oppositely open actuator housing mounting recesses and attachedseparate brake shoe mounting brackets.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel brake mechanismmounting structure comprising a spider apertured to fit over and bedirectly welded upon an axle housing or beam, with oppositely open brakeshoe actuator recesses formed therein, and having oppositely disposedbrake shoe brackets attached thereto intermediate the recesses.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel axle beam andbrake mechanism support assembly Wherein an apertured elongated spiderfits over the beam and is welded in place, the brake shoes are mountedon diametrically opposed brackets removably attached to the spider, andactuator units are detachably mounted on the spider between the ends ofthe brake shoes, and the individual novel components of such assembly.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the followingspecification in connection with the appended claims and the attacheddrawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly in section illustrating a brakeassembly incorporating a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section through the brake of FIGURE 1 substantially online 22 of FIGURE 1, with one of the brake shoes removed for clarity ofillustration;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view in section through an actuator mountingportion of the spider substantially along line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of one of the brake shoe supportbrackets;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of the bracket of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a section through one brake shoe support bracketsubstantially along line 66 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view partly in section showing the mounting ofan actuator housing upon the spider;

FIGURE 8 is a section substantially along line 8-8 of FIGURE 2 showingthe rectangular cross section of the trailer axle beam bet-ween theintegral wheel mounting spindles;

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation partly in section illustrating a brakeassembly like FIGURE 1 but showing a different brake shoe structure andmounting;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary section at line 10-10 of FIGURE 9 showing theretainer mounting of the brake shoe on the support bracket;

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary section generally on line 1111 of FIGURE 9showing attachment of a U-shaped return spring to the brake shoes; and

FIGURES 12, 13 and 14 are respectively side and opposite end views ofthe U-shaped brake shoe re'tum spring.

FIGURE 1 shows a vehicle brake mechanism assembly 10 enclosed by theusual brake drum assembly indicated at 1'1. Assembly 10 is supportedupon an axle assembly 12 which is preferably a hollow tubular traileraxle beam having a rectangular cross section center portion 12 ofuniform size extending between identical integral cylindrical brakespider mounting and wheel bearing spindle end portions 12". As indicatedin FIGURES 1 and 2, the axle beam 12 is preferably made by transverselybending of a single sheet of metal to the required contour and weldingthe opposite longitudinal edges of the sheet along the straight weldline 12" which in the axle assembly is disposed in the plane containingthe line of action of the actuators, which would be the plane indicatedby line 3-3 in FIGURE 1 and passing through the center of the axle beam.The brake mechanism support phase of the invention may equally well beapplied to other axle beams and to drive axle housings.

Assembly comprises an integral elongated spider 13 which has a centralrelatively thick annular body section 14 and diametrically projectingarms 15 and 16 that are formed with opposite generally semicircularbottom outwardly open V-shaped recesses 17 and 18 each adapted toreceive a brake actuator housing 20. Actuator housing 20 may be of thetype disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,037,584 to F. T. Cox et al.,enclosing a wedge, roller and associated plunger mechanism (not shown)powered by a fluid motor unit 21 which is attached by means of a tubularmember 22 to the actuator housing.

As shown in FIGURE 7, each housing 20 has a flat surface 23 adapted tobe flush with a flat pad surface 24 on the spider arm, and four machinescrews 25 extend through suitable openings 26 in the spider arm tosecure the actuator housing to the spider. Each housing 20 has acylindrical section 20' which is machined to have a snug tight flt inrecess 17 (or 18) so that in the assembly none of the brake operationstresses are borne by screws 25. Pad surfaces 24 surround the spiderrecesses -17 and 18 and lie in a common plane normal to the axis of theaxle. The actuators 20 with motors 21 attached may be readily removedfrom the support assembly after screws 25 are removed, through the openouter ends of recesses 17 and 18.

Actuator housing 20 contains plungers 27 and 28 which extend outwardlyin opposite directions for abutment and nonrotatable attachment to thewebs of opposite brake shoes 29 and 31 respectively. One of theseplungers, as that at 28, may be automatically adjustable in length asdisclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,068,964 to W. J. Williams to compensatefor brake lining wear.

At the other ends of the brake shoes similar plungers 27' and 28' areindicated in phantom lines in FIGURE 1, the upper actuator housing beingomitted in FIGURE 1 to better illustrate the spider structure.

Brake shoes 29 and 31 each comprise linings 32 secured to arcuateflanges 33 and central webs 34. The brake shoes are normally heldretracted with respect to drum 11 and urged against the actuatorplungers by balanced upper and lower return springs 35 and 36 attachedbetween the respective webs. The brake shoes are further mounted andguided against tilting and to keep them centered in relation to thedrum, by U-shaped intermediate spring clips 37 which are attached byscrew and nut assemblies 38 to the outer ends of special brake shoesupport brackets 39 and 41, as best illustrated in FIG- URE 2. Springclips 37, which overlie the fiat web portions of the brake shoes, retainthe brake shoes securely against flat surfaces of support brackets 39and 41 and thus in centered position within the brake mechanism as willappear.

With particular reference to FIGURE 1 the brake spider 13 is of oblongsomewhat diamond-shaped configuration provided with a large central bodyaperture 42 of a diameter corresponding to the external diameter of thecylindrical brake spider mounting section 40 of the axle tube 12 toenable the spider to be pressed over the axle. Once spider 13 isproperly located longitudinally on the axle beam it is permanentlyringwelded thereto as shown at 43 so that the axle beam and the twobrake spiders form a rigid integral unit assuring secure attachment andcentering of the brake mechanism at each end of the axle.

Each spider -13 is formed on one side with a raised central portionproviding a generally annular flat pad surface 44 lying in the sameplane with pad surfaces 24 so that all three pad surfaces can beprecisely machined and ground or otherwise formed at the same time andwith the same machine set-up.

The central pad section 44 is provided with identical groups of threadedbores 45 located at opposite sides of the axle in equally spacedrelation to both sides of the minor axis of spider 13 adapted to receivescrews 46 which attach the brake shoe support brackets 39 and 41 tospider 13.

FIGURES 4-6 illustrate details of these brake shoe support brackets andsince they are identical only one will be described.

Brake shoe support bracket 41 may be stamped or forged from a singlepiece of metal to assume a substantially rectangular shape, two adjacentcorners of which extend outwardly into rounded wing formations 47 and 48connected by an inner circular edge surface 49 whose curvaturecorresponds to the curvature of the outer periphery of axle beam 12.Each of these wing formations is provided with the aperture 51 alignedin the assembly of FIGURE 1 with threaded spider bores 45, and anotheraperture 52 is provided immediately adjacent the circular edge surface49 intermediate the other two bores in alignment with another threadedspider bore 64.

The outer edge surface 53 opposite the circular edge surface 49 isstraight and is joined to the wing formations by oppositely curved sides54 and 55. A smaller aperture 56 is radially aligned with the centralaperture '52 adjacent the straight outer edge 153 to receive the screwand nut assembly 38 for the hold down spring clip 37 as shown in FIGURE2.

Bracket 41 is formed on opposite sides with two stamped out ridges 57and 58 which extend from outer edge 53 towards the inner circular edge49 adjacent which they taper in width at 59. These ridges 57 and 58 areprovided for reinforcement and adjacent the outer portion they provide atwo point bearing surface for the brake shoe web 34 of the brake shoes.This bearing surface as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 consists of the flatsmooth coplanar upper ridge surfaces 61. In the assembly as shown inFIGURE 1 these bearing surfaces 61 slidably engage the inner parallelsmooth side surface of the brake shoe web, and the spring clip 37resiliently bears on the outer surface of the brake shoe web, so that inthe assembly the brake shoes are supported and guided for movementessentially in a plane radially of the axle.

-Brake shoe bearing surfaces 61 are disposed in a plane spaced from thecentral plane of the spider at such predetermined distance that when thebrake is completely assembled as in FIGURE 1 the brake shoe webs will bealigned with the central axes of the actuator plungers 27 and 28, andthis relationship will be constantly maintained throughout theoperational life of the brake.

At the inner side, bracket 41 is formed with an inner flat surfaceindicated at 62 fitting flush upon spider pad surface 44 whereby whenscrews 46 are inserted and drawn tight the bracket is rigidly secured inradially extending relation upon spider 13 with inner edge surface 49circumferentially contacting the periphery of axle beam 12.

The spider 13 and the separate brackets 39 and 41 may be simple forgingsor stampings which are easily machined where necessary. The spider canbe welded to the axle with less difliculty than prior complex spiderstructures, and this integral welding of the spider to the axle beamprovides the further advantage that centralizing errors caused by anaccumulation of machining tolerances in conventional flange and boltstructures is completely eliminated. The unique outwardly open actuatorhousing mounting openings 17 and 18 in the spider ends allow the fastand easy removal of the complete actuating mechanisms with motorattached without the necessity of disturbing the precisely adjustedbrake actuating mech' anism within the actuator housing by having todisassemble the fluid motor from the actuator housing. The separatebrackets for brake support eliminate the need for expensive machiningand complex spider shapes.

FIGURES 9-14 illustrate a further preferred embodiment of the inventionwherein the brake shoes are differently mounted on the brackets andconnected by a different return spring arrangement.

The brackets 39 and 41 are the same as in FIGURES 1-8 and secured to thesame spider 13 in the same manner as by bolts 46.

Brake shoes 70 and 71 in this embodiment are similar to the brake shoes29 and 31 as far as the lining, mounting is concerned, but in each ofshoes 70 and 71 the web 72 is wider and in fact has an inner edge 73similar in contour to the adjacent side of spider 13. Also each web 72is formed with a substantially centered angular guide slot 74 whichslidably fits with the cylindrical shank of a guide pin 75 which in thisform is the shank of a bolt assembly 76 passing through slot 74 and thebracket aperture 56 as shown in FIGURE 10.

Bolt assembly 76 comprises a large diameter washer 77 interposedslidably between the enlarged bolt head 78 and one side of shoe web 72,and a nut and washer assembly 79 on the threaded end of the bolt whichwhen drawn to a suitable extent slidably retains the shoe web 72 againstthe fiat guide surface 61 of the mounting bracket as shown in FIGURE 10.

Slots 74 of the respective shoes are oppositely inclined at oppositesides of the axle center, and the inclination is such as to permitcounterclockwise shoe displacement upon engagement of the shoes with thedrum when the actuators 20 are operated to apply the brakes.

A special return spring arrangement is provided in the FIGURE 9embodiment. Two substantially identical U-shaped springs 81 and 82 areprovided. As shown in FIGURE 9, each brake shoe web has two apertures 83and 84 which are disposed at equal distances from a center planebisecting the shoe and substantially containing line Ill-10. A lineinterconnecting the centers of the apertures 83 and 84 in each shoeintersects that center plane at right angles.

One spring 81 has its opposite hooked ends 85 and 86 inserted within theapertures 83 of the respective brake shoes. Referring to FIGURES 11-14it will be seen that spring 81 is formed from a single length of wirestiff enough to be shape retaining and yet resilient enough for thepurpose. Spring 81 comprises an intermediate loop 87 which extendsaround the underside of the axle beam, substantially parallel side arms88 and 89 lying in the plane of the loop terminating in oppositelyoutwardly extending end arms 91 and 92 which in turn have theirterminals formed with arcuate books 85 and 86.

As shown in FIGURES l1 and 14, end arm 92 also lies in the plane of theloop 87, but arm 91 is longer than arm 92 and inclined with respect tothe plane of the loop, so that when spring 81 is attached between theopposite brake shoes the plane of loop 87 will be disposed at a slightangle to the axis of the axle beam.

Similarly spring 82 has its opposite hooked ends inserted into brakeshoe apertures 84 and its loop extends around the upper side of the axlebeam, but with hook attached to shoe 71 and hook 86 attached to shoe 70.By this arrangement the springs 81 and 82 do not interfere with eachother and the opposite angularities of their loop sections, extending inintersecting planes transverse to the axis of the axle member 40,balance.

Each spring 81 and 82 is of such characteristics as to normally seek arelaxed position wherein the brake shoes are pulled toward engagementwith the actuator plungers, and they are expanded equally when theactuators force the brake shoes toward drum engagement.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a vehicle brake assembly adapted for mounting upon a nonrotatableaxle member extending transversely of the vehicle, a support rigid withsaid axle member, opposed brake shoe assemblies slidably mounted uponsaid support, actuator units mounted on said sup port between oppositeends of said brake shoe assemblies, and return spring means extendingbetween said brake shoe assemblies comprising two separate oppositelyfacing substantially U-shaped similar springs having their respectiveloop sections extending in intersecting planes around opposite sides ofsaid axle member and having their opposite ends anchored in therespective brake shoe assemblies, said springs being disposed andarranged for non-interfering balanced cooperative action in theassembly.

2. In the brake assembly defined in claim 1, said springs each beingformed from a single length of wire and comprising an intermediate loophaving substantially parallel side arms extending in the plane of theloop and terminating in oppositely outwardly extending end arms thathave hooked terminals inserted into apertures in said brake shoeassemblies.

3. In the brake assembly defined in claim 2, each spring having one ofsaid end arms lying in the plane of said loop, with the other end armbeing longer than said one end arm and inclined with respect to theplane of the loop, so that said springs are disposed in noninterferingrelation in said assembly.

4. In the brake assembly defined in claim 1, wherein said loop sectionsof said springs extend in intersecting planes of opposite angularityaround said opposite sides of said axle member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1945 Eksergian 188--78 7/1963Scheel l88-78

